craymer



Patented May 20, 1919.

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n.1. CRAYMER. UNLODING 0R DISCHARGING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22. 19H?1 .-.lttlll L nu.

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NMA n UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY JAMES CRAYMER, 0F PECKHAM, LONDON, ENGLAND.

'UNLOADING OR DISCHARGING- DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 20, 1919,

Application filed J' uly 22, 1918 Serial No. 246,118.

,do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the same.

The said invention relates to that type of unloading or discharging device, wherein the load is supported by a conveyer which, when moved toward the discharge or unloading end, carries the load with it until it reaches the said end where it falls off the conveyer. My invention consists in a platform adapted to foldup (as distinguished from rolling up) during unloading or discharge.

According to one way of carrying the invention into eect I arrange the platform in the form of a folding conveyer consisting of a number of parts or platforms connected together in sucha manner that power can be applied from one part or platform to the other. The said connections are so arranged ythat the parts or platforms follow one another and that they provide means of folding the said parts or platforms.

The said parts or platforms are preferably mounted on rollers and the power for moving said parts or platforms is preferably applied at the rear end of the conveyer so that the said platforms perform a pushing action on one another to produce the travel thereof in the unloading or discharging direction.

- According to one construction said parts or platforms are made of wood, metal or other suitable material and are so connected vto one another by links situated at the sides of the parts or platforms that each link forms a connection between adjacent platforms and thatsaid links support and control the forwardmovement of each part or platform and act as connections for the Vreturn movement of the parts or platforms named part or platform and each succeeding platform is linked to the preceding part or platform in a similar manner. At the dischargeend of the device an inclined support is provlded to support said parts or platforms after they pass over the discharge end of the device. The adjacent ends of said parts are provided with a projecting piece which ,overlaps the other endv so as to present an `unbroken surface to the load.

The means provided for'moving the conveyer in both directions may consist of a rope or ropes connected to the conveyer at the rear thereof and mounted on suitable jockey pulleys, means being provided for drivlng sald rope or ropes in either direc-- tion, but any other suitable means may be employed for actuating the conveyer.

My invention is applicable to vehicles,

unloading platforms, wharves or the like.y

A conveyer constructed in accordance with Amy invention may also be employed for loading because the conveyer parts in returning to their initial position will convey objects held thereon from a lower level to the position they are to assume when loaded, and I may provide suitable means for retaining the objects on the conveyer parts during the movement ofv such parts.

In order that my invention may be more fully understood and readily carried into practice I have illustrated as applied to a vehicle one constructional example in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure lis a plan view of a vehicle body.

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section on line A-AV of Fig. Vl.

Fig. 3 is an end view with the tailboard of the vehicle opened. t

Fig. A is a view in side elevation of a detached conveyer unit.

Fig. 5 is a detached view in vertical section showing theposition assumed by the conveyer in unloading.

' Fig. V6 is a View in front elevation show- Y ing a slightly modified form of conveyer unit which may be employed when the conveyer is also used for loading.

Refering to Figs. l to 5, which illustrate the preferred construction, a is a Avehicle body which may be of the usual construction and b is a tailboard pivotally mounted at c. This vehicle body is mounted on wheels in the. well known manner.- Y v The floor d of the body a is provided with metal runners c and jockey pulleys f are moimted to project through apertures in the floor CZ. Platforms g, ZZ, z', y', Z6 and Z are provided with anti-friction rollers an running on the runners e and supporting the platforms on the iioor cZ of the vehicle body.

The rollers m are rotatably mounted between rows of ribs o, see Figs. 3, 4 and 6 and these ribs also strengthen the platforms. The platforms h, z', j and c are beveled at both ends and the platforms g and Z are beveled at one end as shown. The platforms 71 i, j, Z5 and Z are provided with lips p which overlap those ends of the platforms which are adjacent thereto and the platform Z is provided with an upright member g.

The platform g is rovided with two rigid depending arms r w iich are pivoted at s to links t which in turn are pivoted to the 1nner side of the tailboard Z) at a. The pivot s is arranged to be in alinement with the pivotal mounting of the tailboard Z) when the tailboard is closed. rI`he platform g is connected to the platform Zt by a link o which is pivoted to g at w and to L at and by a similar link pivoted to the opposite sides of the platforms g and L. Similar links Z) are employed at opposite sides fo-r connecting together the platforms 7L and z', 'i and j, j and 70,15 and Z, the arrangement of the pivots of the links being the same as described with reference to the platforms g and ZL.

Hooks g/ are provided at opposite sides of the platforms g, L, z', y' and holes are formed in the platforms IL, z', and c at e adapted to be engaged by the hooks y as they assume their end position in unloading. yI-Iooks 2 are provided on the platform g and plates 3 are arranged on the tailboard to receive the hooks 2. The provision of hooks J and holes to receive them is not essential, if the platform Z is arranged to remain out of contact with the ends of the other platforms when in its unloading position.

Two cables 4 and 5 are connected at 6 to the platform Z. These cables pass over the pulleys f on the tail of the vehicle and are connected to drums 7 and 8. To these drums are also connected cables 9 and 10 and these cables are connected to the platform Z at 11 after passing over the pulleys f at the head of the Vehicle. In the position of the platform shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the cables 9 and 10 are wound on the drum while the cables 4 and 5 are wound off the same and it will be appreciated that by rot-ation of these drums in one direction they will wind off one set of cables 9 and 10 and wind on the other set of cables 4 and 5 thereby exerting a pull on the points 6 and moving all the platforms toward the tail of the vehicle. To permit of rotating these drums they are mounted on a shaft 12 carrying a worm 13 which is'in gear with a worm 14 mounted on a shaft carrying a bevel wheel 15. This bevel wheel is in gear with a bevel wheel 16 mounted on a shaft 17 both ends of which are squared to receive the correspondingly shaped boss 18 of a handlel 19.

It will be appreciated that the handle may be replaced by motive power applied to shaft 12 or 17.

On the sides of the vehicle are secured guards 20 to protect the links and cables 4 and 5. In Fig. 1 one of these guards is removed in order to expose the cable 5 and links o and in this gure part of the platform ZL, the Hoor Z and the upper parts of the cables 4 and 5 have been removed from above the winding mechanism for the purpose of making the same clear. In Fig. 4 I have shown a detached platform which in construction is the same as the platforms L, z', 7' and 7c.

The mechanism operates as follows l/Vhen the handle 19 is turned in one direction after the tailboard has been lowered the cables 4 and 5 by acting on the platform Z force the platforms toward the end of the vehicle and the platform g carrying the arms r is forced to move downward by the radial movement of the links t connected thereto. When this platform assumes the position shown in Fig. 5 the hooks thereon engage the plates 3 on the tailboard thereby securing said platform in its unloaded position. The lip end of the platform 7L is also forced to move downward by the links o until the platform has assumed the position shown in Fig. 5 with its holes .e engaged by the hooks y on the platform g. The platforms i, j and /c are caused to perform the same movement by the links lv and finally the platform Z rides with its rollers on the ends of the platforms g, L, z', j and c. The links 'v connected to the platform Z cause the same to slant downward. It will be appreciated that by the time the mechanism has reached the position shown in Fig. 5 the load will have been automatically discharged.

To return the parts to their initial position the handle 19 is turned in opposite direction with the result that the cab-les 9 and 10 acting at the points 11 will draw the platform Z onto the floor Z of the truck again and the links o connecting this platform to the platform 7c will in turn draw the platform lo upward until it reaches the floor of the vehicle. The links o connecting the platforms Za and j will during this It will be readily seen that if objects such as shells or boxes are lifted onto and held on the platforms lo, j, i, t and g when they are in the positions shown in Fig. 5 and just before they Vbegin their return movement these platforms on performing their return movement will raise such objects with them and carry the objects into the body of the vehicle thereby saving a considerable amount of lifting and arranging. In order to retain such objects on the platforms until said platforms assume a horizontal position I may provide any suitable means, such as for example cavities 22, see Fig. 6 near the rear ends of the platforms, and arms 28, pivotally mounted therein and adapted to swing upward and toward the sides of the platform. These arms can be raised before the object is lifted onto the platform and after the platform has assumed its horizontal position these arms can be lowered into their cavities wherebyno obstruction is placed in the way of unloading said platforms. Spring members 24 may be provided which tend to retain the arms in either position.

I claim:

1. An unloading or discharging device comprising a plurality of load-carrying platforms and platform connecting means adapted to guide said platforms into slanting, superimposed positions during unloading or discharge.

2. An unloading or discharging device comprising a plurality of platforms placed end to end; connecting links pivotally connected to said platform at the sides and links pivotally connecting the tail platform to a support; the lirst named links being adapted to transmit movement from one platform to another and produce folding and unfolding of the platforms, and the second named links adapted to control the movement of and position the tail platform.

3. An unloading or discharging device comprising a vehicle body; a plurality of movable platforms arranged in said body; a tailboard on said vehicle; links connecting the tail platform to said tailboard; and links connecting said platforms together at the sides.

4. An unloading or discharging device comprising a plurality of movable platforms; links connecting said platforms together and constraining them to fold up on one another during unloading or discharge; and beveled ends on some of said platforms forming a Hat surface in the unloading position.

5. An unloading or discharging device comprising a plurality of movable platforms; links connecting the end of each platform to approximately the middle of the adjacent platform; arresting means for the tail platform at the unloading point and means for moving said platforms to the unloading point and returning said platforms to the initial position.

k6. An unloading or discharging device comprising a vehicle body; platforms movable on said body; links connecting the end of each platform to approximately the middle of the adjacent platform; a pivoted tailboard on said body; links connecting the tail en'd of the tail platform to said tailboard; propelling means for moving said platforms onto said board and returning said platforms to the initial position.

7. An unloading or discharging device comprising a vehicle body; platforms movably supported in said body; links at the side of said platforms connecting the end of each platform to approximately the middle of the adjacent platform; a hinged tailboard on said body; links connecting the tail end of the tail platform to the said board; hooks on said board; eyes on said tail platform adapted to engage said hooks; hooks and eyes on others of said platforms adapted to interengage when the platform assumes the unloading position; guards on said Vehicle protecting said links; and pulling members on the vehicle lbody in operative connection with the head platform and adapted to be operated to move said platforms in loading or unloading direction.

In testimony whereof I affix my signaf ture in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY J AMES CRAYME-R.

Witnesses:

KATHLEEN I-IoRAN, VIOLET HoLLowAY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

